Controller for shedding mechanism.



No. 659,0l9. Patented Oct. 2, I900.

B. M. DAY. CONTROLLER FOR SHEDDlNG MECHANISM.

(Application filed Apr. 19, 1900.) (NoJdodaL) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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No. 659,0!9. Patented Oct. 2, I900,

' C. M. DAY.

CONTROLLER FOR SHEDDING MECHANISM.

(Application filed Apr. 19, 1900.)

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NrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLESM. DAY, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE DRAPER COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE AND PORTLAND, MAINE.

CONTROLLER FOR SHEDD ING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 659,019, dated October 2, 1900. Application fi led April 19, 1900. I Serial No. 13,415. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES M. DAY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hopedale, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Controllers for Shedding Mechanism, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to the shed-forming mechanism of looms, and more particularly to that type wherein the shedding is controlled by or through a pattern-surfacesueh, for instance, where the movement of the harness members is effected by a (lobby. In such looms the pattern-surface is usually moved forward by suitablemeans at each pick, and should the fillingfail such advance of the pattern-surface, if uninterrupted, would cause the fresh filling to be laid in the wrong shed. In United States Patent No. 618,362, dated January 24, 1899, means are shown for effecting a retrograde movement of the patternsurface for a predetermined amount or number of picks upon filling failure, such retrograde movement being made operative upon detecting movement of the filling-detector, and in such patent the invention was illustrated in connection with a loom provided with weft-replenishing mechanism.

In my present invention I do not cause retrograde movement of the pattern-surface upon failure of the filling; but I have provided means whereby upon filling failure the operation of the shedding mechanism is re tarded, the shed being held open when the filling-detector operates long enough to give the shuttle time to receive a fresh supply of' Weft and thereafter to lay it in the shed so 09 .90, Fig. 1. v elevation showing the clutch or coupling beloom, the frame being cut by the section-line Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail in tween the pattern-surface and the actuating means therefor. Fig. 4 is-a detached detail in elevation and partly broken out of the con fork or detector operates at every other pick to detect absence of the weft, and fresh weft may be supplied by hand, or preferably antomatically, by suitable weft-replenishing mechanism of well-known or usual construction, and herein it is supposed that the loom is provided with weft-replenishing mechanism.

The loom-frame A, breast-beam A the lay A crank-shaft k and the cam-shaft may be and are all of well-known construction,

and the crank-shaft pinionj meshing toothed gear 10 having a crank-pin 0 and fast on a shaft having a bevel-gearl engaging a bevelgear m aworm n in mesh with a worm-gear c on the shaft 6 of the usual cylinder carrying the pattern surface or chain 27, Fig. 2, the link 10, the three-armed lever r on the rock-shaft 1', the lifters t 8 the connecting-rods w of, and the harness-levers the connectors f mounted thereon and having the usual notched jacks cl to be engaged by the lifters, and the harness-frames ware and may be all substantially as in United States Patent No. 217,589, dated July 15, 1879, five harness-frames '11) being shown, but only two of the levers 00, for the sake of clearness. A greater or less number of harnesses may be employed, however, and any othersuitable lifting mechanism may be used for the harness frames. The worm n is fast on a short shaft 01 rotatably mounted in a bearing-bracket A the lower end of the shaft having keyed to'it, as by a spline 55, Fig. 3, a sliding coupling or clutch n, which is toothed at its lower-end at n to at times engage the toothed end of the hub m of the bevel-gear miwhich latter is rotatably mounted upon the shaft n and held in place by a head 58 on the lower end of the shaft. When the coupling of is in operative position, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the shaft it? and its norm-gear its will be rotated by the gear m, driven by or through the crank-shaft 71 and the pattern-surface will be moved to control the shedding mechanism. If the coupling is disengaged from the toothed hub m however, the shaft n will not he rotated and the pattern-surface will remain stationary, so that the shed will remain in the position it occupied when the coupling was moved into inoperative position.

A long bearing A mounted on the loomframe parallel to the cam-shaft C and near the latter, supports a rotatable auxiliary shaft F, provided with collar at the ends of the bearing to prevent longitudinal movement of the shaft, the latter having fast upon its outer end a cam F on the edge of which travels a roller or other stud F on an arm F slotted at F to straddle the shaft F and at its upper end having a yoke F to embrace the coupling a, hereinbefore referred to, and when the parts are in the position shown with the roller F on the low part of the cam F the coupling will be in operative position, and the shedding mechanism will operate in accordance with the pattern-surface. At its inner end the shaft F has fast thereon agear F ,with its toothed periphery mutilated at one portion, f, and adjacent thereto the gear is provided with a laterally offset starting-toothf (Best shown in Fig. 6.)

The cam-shaft O of the loom has secured to it, as by a key 59, a sleevef, on one end of which is secured a gear f of the diameter of the mutilated gear F and adapted to at times mesh with and rotate the latter, as will be described. Ears f on the sleeve support levers f extended longitudinally of and exteriorily to the sleeve and pivotally connected at their inner ends to radially-movable teeth f on the face of the gearf', said teeth being diametrically opposite each other and sliding in guides 62. These teeth when extended are in the path of the starting-teeth f and it will be manifest thatif either tooth f engages the starting-tooth f the gear F will be turned sufiiciently to bring the peripheral teeth at the end of the blank spacef into mesh with the peripheral teeth of the gear f and the latter will effect rotation of the shaft F until the space f is again in the position shown in Fig. 6. The outer ends of the levers f enter radial slots 63 in an annularly-grooved collar f slidable on the sleeve f, Springs .9 acting on the levers to normally maintain the teeth f retracted, so that under normal conditions the continuous rotation of gear f will have no effect on the gear F and the coupling n will be operative, so that the pattern-surface will be moved ahead regularly by the mechanism for that purpose described. If, however, the teeth f are thrown outward, the gear F will be given one complete rotation whichever tooth engages the startingtooth f, and the driving-gear m will be un coupled from the shaft a the pattern-surface remaining at rest for one revolution of the shaft O or for two picks of the loom by the construction herein shown, two picks being usually sufiicient, the shed remaining open at such time. This retart'lation of the shedding mechanism is effected when the detector detects the absence of weft, and it gives the sh uttle time to receive a fresh supply of weft from the weft-replenishing mechanism and to insert it in the proper shed.

The connections between the weft-detector and the controlling means for the coupling will now be described,and referring more particularly to Fig. lthe breast-beam has mounted upon it near one end a stand b provided with a guideway b in which a slide b is adapted to reciprocate, the weft detector or fork h being pivoted at D on the slide, the fork being engaged at times by the weft-hammer A in usual manner, while a check 0 pivoted on the slide, aids the fork in turning about its pivot 19 after it has been tilted by the weft in the shed. The slide b has a projection c at its outer end against which normally acts a lever 0 pivoted at c and connected by a link 0 to an arm 0 of the rockshaft or rod d, such parts being all substantially as shown and described in United States Patent No. 529,943, dated November 27, 1e94, the weft-hammer A having a connected lever A rocked by a cam A on the cam-shaft 0* at every alternate pick of the loom. In such patent if the weft is absent opposite the detector Z1 when the lay beats up the detector will not be tilted, and by the intervening devices the lever 0 will bet-urned, turning the rock-shaft d. Such turning of the latter effects the transfer of a fresh supply of weft from a suitable hopper (not herein shown) into the shuttle then in the adjacent shuttlebox, and inasmuch as this automatic weftreplenishing mechanism is Well known and not of my invention I have not illustrated the same further than to show the rock-shaft d, the initial or prime actuator for effecting the operation of such mechanism. The lever is provided with an arm 0, pivotally connected by a depending link a with a rockerarm 0", Figs. 1 and 2, fast on a rock-shaft 0 mounted in stands 0 at right angles to the cam-shaft 0 and asecond rocker-arm fast on the shaft 0 is upturned and forked or provided with a yoke 0 at its upper end to engage the groove in the sliding collar f on the sleeve f. Now when the lever c is rocked, as described, when the weft is absent the arm 0 will be raised and the rock-shaft 0 will be turned to swing the arm 0 to the right, Fig. 2, sliding the collar f in the same direction, the latter acting against the cams 69 on the lovers f to rock them and throw the teeth f outward into position for the nearest one to engage the starting-tooth f of the gear F and thereafter the controlling means for the coupling n will operate, as has been described.

IIO

It will be understood from the foregoing description that the shedding mechanism will be stopped in its operation while the weft-replenishing mechanism is operating to supply the shuttle with fresh weft, so that the proper shed will receive the same when the shuttle is again thrown through the shed. When this fresh Weft is laid in its proper shed, the pattern-surface is again set in operation and shedding is resumed at the point where the weft failed.

I have herein described one practical embodiment of my invention without attempting to show various modifications or changes which could be made by one skilled 'in' the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a loom, shed-forming mechanism,normally-operative actuating means therefor, including a clutch or coupling, a normally-inoperative clutch-controlling device, including a rotatable cam, a Weft-detector, and means operated by or through detecting movement of said detector to effect rotation of the cam and thereby render the clutch or coupling inoperative, to stop the action of the shed-forming mechanism.

2. In a loom, the cam-shaft having a gear thereon, shed-forming mechanism, actuating means therefor, a coupling between them, controlling means for the coupling, including an intermittingly-rotatable gear and devices to eifect its engagement with and actuation by the cam-shaft gear, and a Weft-detector operatively connected with said devices, to effect the operation of the latter upon failure of the weft.

3. In a loom, a pattern-surface to control the formation of the shed, actuating means for the pattern-surface, an intermediate coupling, means, including an intermittingly-rotatable cam, to control the coupling, a weftdetector, and devices by or through the same upon failure of the Weft to elfect a single rotation of the cam, to move the coupling into inoperative position and stop the pattern-surface and thereafter to throw the coupling into operative position.

4. In a loom provided with Weft-replenishing mechanism, a detector to effect the operation of said mechanism upon weft failure, shed-forming mechanism,normally-operative actuating means therefor, a coupling between said means and the shed-forming mechanism, controlling means for the coupling, including a rotatable cam, to interrupt the cooperation of the shed-forming mechanism and its actuating means, and connections between the detector and said controlling means, operated by or through detecting movement of said detector to eifect rotation of the cam and thereby render the coupling inoperative, to stop the action of the shedforming mechanism.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

- CHARLES M. DAY.

Witnesses:

GEORGE OTIS DRAPER, ERNEST W. Woon. 

